This invention relates to food blending apparatus and to a method of blending food within a container. The invention has particular application to milk shakes but can be used with other food products which need to be blended, particularly those which need to be dispensed ready for consumption in retail premises.
Hitherto milk shakes have been produced by manually placing ice cream, milk and flavouring into a blender jug into which a blender is inserted to produce the blended milk shake. The milk shake is then poured into a receptacle from which the customer consumes the product. The blender jug then has to be cleaned and sanitised for re-use. However, in the present fast food market there is a demand for a better system for producing milk shakes taking account of health regulations, labour costs, waste, product quality and the level of skill of the operator. Current milk shake systems provide for improved pasteurisation but such systems are more expensive and more complicated. Moreover some of such systems are limited in the flavours which can be produced.